AEW Dark Review - November 8, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Zack Clayton def. Blake Li

Clayton continues to do absolutely nothing for me. AEW has far worse wrestlers on its roster, but nothing stands out as interesting about him whatsoever. He's the definition of a generic heel you'd face in the WWE 2K video games during story mode. Maybe letting him cut a promo ripping into the crowd before his matches would help him get more heat. This was standard stuff, but it didn't make for the strongest start to the show.

Kayla Rossi def. Ashley D'Amboise

Rossi was once the bodyguard of Joey Janela on Dark who did nothing but occasionally get physical with Janela's opponents. AEW must have been high enough on her to sign her to a deal, but she's only had one or two matches since Janela's contract wasn't renewed earlier this year. Personally, I don't see anything special in her other than her size, but maybe she'll get better in time. Props to D'Amboise for carrying this to a passable match.

The Gunns def. BK Klein and Jarett Diaz

Gunn Club is apparently no more as they were announced as The Gunns here. That makes sense since they're no longer aligned with their father Billy. They came out to FTR's music dressed as FTR, so at least they're trying to be entertaining. They'll be on the opposite end of an eight-man tag team match from them on Wednesday's Dynamite and this was a simple squash to give them a win before then.

"Pretty" Peter Avalon def. Brandon Cutler

A mini hype package aired promoting this "renewal of a rivalry" at the end of Dark two weeks ago, so it's weird that it aired this week without any explanation. That explanation likely would have come on Being The Elite if the show wasn't on hiatus. I never cared for their rivalry, and it's only gotten worse because both guys are doing nothing but unfunny comedy nowadays, but I'm sure there was an audience who enjoyed this. I didn't.

The Factory (QT Marshall and Cole Karter) def. The Blonds

This was a rare case of a Dark match where the outcome could have gone either way. It seemed like The Blonds were about to embark on a winning streak now that they're no longer The Varsity Blonds, but apparently not. They lost to the damn Factory, and worse yet, it was Marshall who picked up the win and not Karter, who hasn't benefited from being with the group at all. Despite not being a fan of the result, I liked this and thought they had a solid match.

Anna Jay A.S. def. Sio Nieves

I just realized it's been a few weeks since I last saw Jay in action. However, I'm not complaining, and not because I don't like Jay, but rather because all of her enhancement matches have been virtually the same since she turned heel. Her gimmick as part of Jericho Appreciation Society has been awful, so less of it, the better. It's a shame because she's improved over the years, but she really needs to be on her own again (or at least as far away from the Jericho Appreciation Society crap as possible). The best thing about this was that it was brief.

Kip Sabian def. Marcus Kross

Unlike on Monday's Elevation, Sabian did not have Penelope Ford in his corner here. Is there a rhyme or reason for why it happens so inconsistently? I'd prefer to see Ford in Sabian's corner for his matches, but that's just me. The Sabian shtick just hasn't clicked with me. He looks terrific, but he's back in the same spot he was in before he got hurt last year. He can go in the ring, but these squash matches of his haven't held my interest.

Athena def. Diamante

Diamante is easily the biggest challenge Athena has faced since Athena adopted this aggressive edge she's had in her Dark matches. It's obvious Athena is going heel, so it's weird she faced an established heel here. Otherwise, this was a well-worked match. I was glad Diamante got a chance to showcase her skills for a change before eating defeat. As I've said before, here's hoping it's not long before Athena's heel turn gets her back on television in a regular role.

Powerhouse Hobbs def. Rico Gonzalez

It's wonderful to be seeing more of Hobbs lately on all of AEW TV. He returned on Rampage two weeks ago, attacked Wardlow to close out Dynamite last week, and returned to action on Dark in dominant fashion. He disappeared following his loss to Ricky Starks in that Lights Out match back in September, so it's encouraging he has direction again. He completely killed Gonzalez here as he should have.

The Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver and Alex Reynolds) def. Troy Hollywood, Fulton and Ativalu

Dark Order are back to spinning their wheels and having pointless enhancement matches where they never beat anyone on the actual roster. I know they had -1 with him and the group is a tribute to the late, great Brodie Lee, but I'm positive they would have been broken up a while ago if that wasn't the case because Dark Order has long overstayed its welcome. This was a basic bout, but my biggest takeaway from it was that Fulton (formerly Sawyer Fulton in WWE and Madman Fulton in IMPACT) appears to be in phenomenal shape.

Eddie Kingston and Ortiz def. AR Fox and Caleb Konley

Fox and Conley were quite the random duo. Fox has shined in every singles match he's had in AEW so far, and as I've said before, Tony Khan would be a fool not to sign him, at least to the Ring of Honor roster. Ensuring he gets consistent television time would a struggle, though, when so many other people are still barely featured. Kingston and Ortiz making quick work of him and Konley was slightly disappointing, but it was a nice little sprint while it lasted.

AEW Interim Women's World Champion Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida def. Emi Sakura and Mei Suruga

This probably would have made more sense before Storm and Shida had their match for the AEW Interim Women's World Championship a few years ago, but they have quality chemistry as partners, so I'm not complaining. The same can be said for Sakura and Suruga, who gel really well together. This was a damn good match with top-notch work from all involved. Storm continues to kill it as champion from an in-ring standpoint. I'd appreciate seeing her get more mic time, though.

Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta) def. The Wingmen (Ryan Nemeth and Cezar Bononi)

Castagnoli and Yuta remain a cohesive unit regardless of the Blackpool Combat Club inner turmoil going on right now. They compliment each other exceptionally well and this match proved that. The Wingmen are goofs, but to their credit, they sold nicely for Castagnoli and Yuta's offense. Whatever happened to Castagnoli and Yuta challenging FTR for the ROH World Tag Team Championship as was teased at the end of Death Before Dishonor in July?

Overall Show

This must have been taped the last time AEW was at Daily's Place several weeks ago. More matches were taped for Dark at Mohegan Sun than what aired last Tuesday (and I know because I was there), so maybe they're airing on weeks where Dynamite and Rampage were taped in the same night? But wasn't Rampage live last week? I have no clue what their logic is, but the bottom line is that being outside of Universal Studios did help for this episode. I just wish they count down on the number of matches and on the overall length of the episode because this definitely dragged by the end. The star power made for a decent show.

SEE MORE: Dark Reviews